Dear Parents, Students, Staff and Friends of St Patrick’s College,

I trust that all Fathers and those in fathering roles had a lovely day last Sunday. At this point in my life I am not really interested in gifts. I am so much more interested in time spent with my children. This is the greatest gift they can share with me. I consider myself fortunate to have three adult children who choose to spend some of their leisure time with me and regularly organise a night out with one, two or all three of them coming along because we enjoy each other’s company. Given the pace of most people’s lives these days, finding time to spend with family brings with it a degree of difficulty and detailed administration! There are work rosters to be checked, partners to consider and myriad other commitments. However, I find if we value something enough then we will make it work. I am so pleased that my children make the time.

There is no more important and vital time to be a father who is truly present to his children than right now. I think in many ways children in Western societies have never been more under-fathered. Many households have dads who are either missing or absent. One does not have to be away from home to be absent either. Sometimes families inhabit the same physical space but spend little time with each other. The rise of the McMansion has allowed families to live in the same home but be literally a long way away from each other. The role modeling we provide our children is most profound when they witness our actions, more so than our words. Even more importantly, our inaction can be such a powerful force. What we do not do, what we do not commit to, and the lack of interest we might take in the lives of our children, sends messages that might not be consciously realised until they are grown. This does not mean that we need to indulge our children or tell them that they are perfect. Rather, we actively parent them; we father them by guiding, influencing and being an active part of their lives. We have expectations of and for them and we share in their hopes and dreams as well as their disappointments and failures.

Our boys privately relish and take their cues from our active participation in their lives. I encourage all dads to be more involved in the life of their sons here at the College. I know that many Fathers coach sport teams, help out at Careers Evenings and come to see their sons in music, debating, public speaking and many other activities. Last Friday we had our Fathers’ Day Masses at the College. P and F Executive members and some other parents (mostly mothers) did a wonderful job in providing breakfast and I offer my grateful thanks for that. I also know that the Masses were really well attended. I take this opportunity to remind dads that they can also be actively involved in the faith life of the College. As of last Wednesday, we had only one father in the entire College sign up to assist with, or participate in the Mass either as a reader, minister of Holy Communion or to assist in some other role. This kind of role modeling to our sons is also important. When they see men (other than the Priest) involved in their liturgical lives it reinforces the importance of our faith.

On a separate yet connected issue, this week is National Child Protection Week. The health and wellbeing of every child in the world is a collective responsibility. We all have our part to play in ensuring that our children enjoy the innocence of childhood, the right to nutritious food and clean water, to an education, to live a life free of fear for their safety, to a decent home to live in and to be cared for and loved. Coincidentally the Church’s response to the recommendations from the Royal Commission was released last Friday. Our Church has an enormous responsibility now to ensure that the crimes of the past are not perpetuated. I pray that positive change emanates from these recommendations.

Children grow up so quickly. Their memories of childhood are foundational in shaping the adults they become. We are instrumental in making those memories with them. Our role as Fathers and male role models does impact their lives in ways that perhaps we may never fully realise.

Condolences Please pray for Christian Colantuono (Year 10) and his family as they mourn the loss of his grandfather Mr Giuseppe Colantuono. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

Live Jesus in our Hearts, Forever. Craig Wattam Principal

Vol 31, No 27—5 September 2018

J U N I O R S C H O O L More writing buzz! Do you remember much from your childhood and school days? I’ll bet you can remember at least a few key moments – perhaps the moment a lightbulb lit in your mind, or you discovered you were good at something, or you saw something and thought “yep, that’s for me”.

I have a feeling a couple of our Junior School students might have had that moment on Tuesday when they saw Australia’s 2017-18 National Australian Poetry Slam Champion Solli Raphael perform in our own Westcourt Library. Solli, now aged 13, beat an all adult field to earn that title last year, and is well known as an internet sensation. His performance inspired our guys – there was a real buzz afterwards. I hope and expect many boys will put pen to paper this week.

Mural #2 Many thanks to Daniel, Sean, Jerome and Oliver for working to create the Junior School’s Mural #2 on the construction hoarding. Daniel’s striking design incorporates isosceles triangles (reflected vertically) and rhombuses (reflected horizontally). Although his in-class design was most colourful, Daniel decided to continue the Blue, Black and Gold theme begun by the 5 Green students on Mural #1. Great work, guys!

Ben Munday—Director of Junior School

J U N I O R S C H O O L S P O R T

As we enter the later stages of this third term, the juggernaut of co-curricular continues to gather momentum. In the past few weeks we have had many members of the Junior School community experience success.

Congratulations to Jack Spina and Daniel De Pasquale of Year 6 who were involved in the Open D Grade winning Band. The Band performed exceptionally well taking 1

st in the Test Piece, 1

st in Hymn, 2nd in Free Choice and the

State Championship overall.

We also congratulate Finlay Mitchell, Alex Conti and Mitchell Woods on being part of the CIS Rugby team. The CIS team won the PSSA Carnival, only having one game where points were scored against them. An outstanding achievement by this team. Mitchell Woods and Alex Conti have both been selected in the State side. We wish them the best of luck in the coming holidays as they represent the State.

A few reminders. Sport photos will be taken on Wednesday 19 September (Week 9), these will be taken in the Westcourt Library. Boys will need to bring to school their playing uniform for each of the sports in which they represented the College. Please be aware that head gear, mouth guards and shin pads are not required for the photos. Please make sure that all clothing is clean and boots are polished. Photos will be available to order online. There will be further information closer to the date.

As we approach the end of the term our thoughts start to head towards the summer sports. Summer sports will recommence at the beginning of Term 4. There will be one training session for each team during week 10, to prepare all the teams for the upcoming fixtures. All boys will continue in the teams they were in during Term 1.

On Friday 30 November the annual Junior School Sports Presentation Dinner will be held in the College gymnasium. An email will circulate shortly with booking details. Please be aware that there is a limit on seating, so please book early to avoid disappointment.

John Locke—Junior School Coordinator of Co-curricular

Last Sunday three school Ensembles competed in the NSW School Orchestral and Band Festival at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

The Senior String Ensemble won a Gold Award, the Duffy Orchestra a Silver Award and the Blue, Black and Gold Big Band a Silver Award.

Congratulations to all boys on their performances and on proudly representing the College.

Derek Rose—Bandmaster

N S W S C H O O L O R C H E S T R AL AN D B I G B AN D F E S T I VAL

Parents and boys of Year 12 are reminded about the following HSC matters:

Year 12 Academic Reports By the end of next week Year 12 final academic reports will be issued online via the Parent Portal on SOLE. In order to access their sons’ reports, parents will be required to log on to SOLE and under the Parent Portal menu, select Student Reports. Parents should save an electronic copy and print the report. Only parent accounts can access student reports. Parents who have forgotten their passwords can go to the ‘forgotten your user name or password’ link on the SOLE login page.

With only six weeks to go to the HSC examinations, it is a very important time for each student to focus and step up his study regime in the realisation that in terms of marks, it is only half-time – the game is not over yet. There is still 50% of the HSC Mark to work for.

Revision for the HSC Written Examinations Although it will be an eventful time for the students over the next few weeks as they celebrate the end of their schooling, they must not lose focus from the main task ahead – the HSC written examinations which commence Thursday 18 October with the English Standard and Advanced Paper 1 in the morning and conclude Friday 9 November with the Drama paper in the afternoon.

Thorough revision of the syllabus content points and practice using past papers under self-imposed examination conditions are essential to sharpen preparation for the examinations. Over the course of the year attention has been drawn to readily accessible resources on the internet to assist the students with their study and revision. The following are most useful for Year 12:

http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/home—syllabuses, past examination papers and notes from the marking centre, 2018 HSC examination timetable and Students Online.

https://arc.nesa.nsw.edu.au/go/hsc—syllabuses, past examination papers and online multiple-choice.

https://studentsonline.nesa.nsw.edu.au/—2018 HSC Study Guide providing expert advice and quick tips from NESA inspectors and experienced teachers, including insider tips from the marking centre, videos, quizzes and FAQs.

I strongly recommend that all Year 12 students engage the above sites as part of their preparation for the HSC examinations.

HSC Students Online This NESA website at https://studentsonline.nesa.nsw.edu.au/, is a facility that provides students with their:

personal details

enrolment details

personalised HSC examination timetable

personalised Advice Line schedule

Assessment Rank Order Notice

HSC results

It is important that Students Online is accessed and checked. Should parents or their sons have further questions about the Students Online service or concerns about the information therein, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Cutrupi at the College.

During the HSC, Students Online and the NESA website will continue to be an important source of information about the HSC. NESA will also continue to provide assistance for any HSC related matters.

HSC Illness/Misadventure In the event of illness or misadventure during the HSC examinations, it is imperative that the College is immediately notified, either through Mr Newman or Mr Cutrupi. An official NESA Illness/Misadventure Appeal form, which will cover each affected examination, will be issued. The completed form must be returned to Mr Cutrupi for the Principal’s signature and submission to NESA by no later than Friday 9 November.

HSC Assessment Rank Order Notices These may be accessed and printed from home via the Students Online facility on Friday 9 November. Appeals concerning rank order must be submitted to Mr Cutrupi, in writing, by no later than 3.30pm, Monday 12 November.

Release of Higher School Certificate Results NESA will make the 2018 HSC results available to students via Students Online on Thursday 13 December.

Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) The Universities Admissions Centre issues a different PIN to that of Students Online to enable access to the ATAR, available on Friday 14 December. On Monday 17 December, a special barbeque lunch for Year 12 will be held here at the College.

Michael Cutrupi—Director of Curriculum

On Thursday 30 August, Year 9 Italian students participated in an Italian Incursion. During this day we welcomed Year 9 boys from St Dominic’s College, Penrith. Throughout the day, we were involved in some fun activities where we had to put our Italian to the test. The best part of the day was when we made fresh pasta with a very experienced and nice head chef by the name of Luca Roncari from Piatto Perfetto. Luca taught how to make fresh pasta by hand and as a collective, we worked together getting a little messy learning much along the way. Throughout the experience, we learned that making pasta is all about using ‘Solo le tue mani’ which means only your hands, with little if no machinery making it

like Italians did many years ago. After making and enjoying the delicious pasta, we spent the lunchtime hanging out with our guests from St Dominic’s, Penrith and getting to know them. When lunch finished, we were exposed to a hilarious example of Italian cinema in the auditorium and then we farewelled the boys as they returned to school. It was great taking our language learning out of the classroom and into real practice.

Anthony Belfiore and Carlo Mian—Year 9

C U R R I C U L U M

Y E AR 9 L A N G U A G E S D AY

FIXTURES AND GROUND LOCATIONS are published live online (includes cancellations): Go to http://www.spc.nsw.edu.au/co-curricular/sporting/ or visit the College website and select Sports Fixtures on the Quick Links menu or via the Team App.

WET WEATHER UPDATES: call 02 9763 1000 and follow the prompts; Twitter at http://twitter.com/SPCSeniorSport; or on the Fixtures Pages above.

HEAD OF SECONDARY SPORT Summer Sport Trials Trials have commenced this week for summer sports. I ask that all students trialling for a summer sport, be aware of trial details posted via homeroom announcements and Team App.

“Sometimes we simply do not make the team we are hoping for. This does not mean that we are useless, a failure or not a worthy person. It simply means that the competition was such that we didn’t make it this time.”

As we progress through the trials of the summer season it is quite evident that some will be very pleased while others will be quite disappointed with their selection. I ask that you have a discussion with your sons if this is the case. Unfortunately, the College is only able to accommodate a certain number of teams for Basketball. As a result, some students will miss gaining selection to represent the College in Basketball for the 2018/2019 season.

Should you require any further information or have general questions please do not hesitate to contact myself or the relevant MIC’s: Baseball — Felicity Warsop

Basketball — Karla Pennell Cricket — Gillian Daley

ISA Athletics The Athletics Squad is set to compete at the ISA Championships next Tuesday 11 September at Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre. After a successful campaign in 2017, the squad is keen to back-up the awesome performance from last year to defend the title this year. We wish all those athletes the best of luck for Saturday’s final invitational carnival to gain selection to compete at the ISA carnival.

Congratulations We congratulate Ryan Littlechild of Year 10 who competed in the Under 17 International 420 class European Sailing Championships in Sesimbra, Portugal during the July holidays. He and his teammate came 5th overall, in a fleet of 44 of the best Under 17 European sailors. Ryan and his teammate then travelled to Newport, Rhode Island, USA, to compete in the International 420 World Championships. He and his teammate qualified for both the Open and Under 17 Championships. They decided to represent Australia in the Open Championships with the top-ranked teams from Europe, Asia, USA and Oceania. In a fantastic effort, Ryan and his teammate came 23rd in the world which was a great achievement in a fleet of 73 boats.

We wish Ryan and his teammate all the best for when they compete at the Australian Championships in Hobart next January. They hope to qualify to represent Australia in 2019.

Anthony Calavassy—Head of Secondary Sport

S P O R T S F I XT U R E S — S AT U R D AY 8 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8

N D J C A R E P R E S E N TAT I V E T R I A L S — C R I C K E T

2018/19 NDJCA Representative Team Trials will take place on Sunday 9 September and Sunday 16 September 2018. It is preferred that players are available for both days. Times and venues will be announced soon. This year’s Shield Competition will commence on Sunday 21 October, it will be expected that players selected in Shield teams will be available to play trial games in the lead up the Shield competition commencing. U11—Presidents Cup; U12—Casey Shield & Presidents Cup; U13—Gee Shield & Presidents Cup; U14—Moore Shield & Presidents Cup; U15—Presidents Cup; U16—Watson Shield & Presidents Cup. Please direct any questions to reps@ndca.org.au or 0426 267 080. Players wishing to participate need to register by Thursday 6 September by emailing the following details to reps@ndca.org.au 1. Name; 2. MyCricket Id 3. Age Group; 4. Date of Birth 5. Club played for Last season/This Season; 6. Bowling (Fast MedSpin Left/Right Arm); 7. Batting (Open/Top Middle Lower); 8. Wicket Keeping Please note that trials may not be held if insufficient numbers are available.

Gillian Daley—Cricket MIC